All Men of Genius

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, All Men of Genius takes place in a Victorian London familiar but fantastical, where mad science makes the impossible possible. Violet Adams wants to attend Illyria College, a widely renowned school for the most brilliant up-and-coming scientific minds, founded by the late Duke Illyria, the greatest scientist of the Victorian Age. The school is run by his son, Ernest, who has held to his father’s policy that the small, exclusive college remain male-only. Violet sees her opportunity when her father departs for America. She disguises herself as her twin brother, Ashton, and gains entry. But keeping the secret of her sex won’t be easy, not with her friend Jack’s constant habit of pulling pranks, and especially not when the duke’s young ward, Cecily, starts to develop feelings for Violet’s alter ego, “Ashton.” Not to mention blackmail, mysterious killer automata, the way Violet’s pulse quickens whenever Ernest speaks to her, and a deadly legacy left by Ernest’s father. She soon realizes that it’s not just keeping her secret until the end of the year she has to worry about: it’s surviving that long. Lev’s first novel, All Men of Genius, will be released by Tor on September 27th, 2011.

Note from the author: A lot of people who have approached me or emailed me about the book seem to be working from the assumption that it is a Young Adult book, and I feel I should state, for the record, that it is not intended as YA. Certainly, there is some crossover appeal, and yes, the protagonist is 17 and in college, but there’s more than a fair amount of bad language, and some sexual content as well. My publicist says that in her opinion it’s for High School and up, and I’m inclined to agree, in general. Obviously, some kids aren’t going to be mature enough for this in high school, and some might be mature enough before. And of course, I think anyone who wants to read it and feels they are mature enough should do so, but I feel it needs to be emphasized: this is not intended as YA.